Blast Off Into the Future at This Astronautics Office

Some things really are black and white. Like the new office for Saber Astronautics in Adelaide, South Australia. Executives at the space mission–technologies and satellite-operations company turned to Sydney’s Alcami Architecture to transform 1,300 square feet in a heritage-listed building into a high-profile headquarters adjacent to their mission-control center that contains production and meeting rooms plus a multifunctional corridor.

Founder and director Victor Alcami and his team responded with what they call “the grid,” a functional, striking embodiment of the Saber brand that’s immersive, futuristic, and representative of space exploration—but all with a light touch. References range from the work of 1960’s Italian design firm Superstudio to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and additions include installing checkered carpet tile surrounded by infinity-inducing mirrored baseboards—“They give the walls a sense of ‘levitation,’ like zero gravity in space,” Alcami notes—and internally lit acrylic-sheet paneling framed by matte-black MDF, both interventions evoking a chessboard, nodding to strategy and control from above. But all of it is entirely reversible: Alcami didn’t remove any walls, preserved existing elements, and retained all steel frames, ensuring minimal waste and sustainable reuse of space. Far out!